And when Benteke struck again with a header in the 61st minute the suffering Villa faithful must have thought they were going to celebrate a much-needed win. But Marouane Fellaini followed up his 69th-minute strike with a stoppage-time header from a Leighton Baines corner to snatch a dramatic point.

That is now 25 goals conceded in eight winless league matches for Villa, but Lambert was buoyed by the display, despite falling three points adrift of safety.

The Scot added: “We are there and fighting like hell to get out of it.

“If we can keep that drive, then hopefully we will get out of it.

“I think the way we are going at the minute, if we keep going like that, then we will win more than not.

“If we can get through this period, we will kick right on.”

Everton manager David Moyes admitted that it was two points dropped at home in the race for the top four.

But midfielder Kevin Mirallas feels clawing back a two-goal deficit in the last half-hour proves that they have the bottle needed to maintain their challenge for Champions League qualification.

And the Belgian attacker, 25, also had praise for his compatriot Fellaini, who bagged his first league goals since December 1.

Mirallas said: “It will serve us well. We have worked hard to get into fifth place and we will be doing all that we can to reach fourth place.

“If we are going to grab the last Champions League spot, we are going to have to keep fighting.

“Marouane scored two vital goals and is very important, but it is also all about the collective here and if we do snatch the last Champions League place, it will be down to the group as a whole.

“You might have the odd dip in form from time to time, but Marouane has had a fantastic season.